warpspeed

ugh i'm so jealous of you bio/evo people getting your responses. archaeology must be on the later admissions

this is why i got a dog. he makes me get off the internet (either by crying to go outside or literally crawling in my lap and licking me in the face) and then i get distracted playing with him, walking him, etc. oh, did i mention this lap dog was a 70 lb great dane pit bull mix? he's dreamy

This is just some wondering. I was fortunate enough to have one of my recommenders let me read his letter after he submitted them (something he doesn't normally do, he actually said he'd never done it before, but I think he wanted to alleviate some stress). I was exceptionally flattered with what he wrote. He said that another recommender (that was in our department) wrote something of the same caliber. I began to get to thinking. After all the talk of "rockstar LORs" and etc, do people really send in negative LORs? I don't mean typos or poorly written, but letters that recommend against admission?

Yeah. I can't really do anything about my ears (they're stretched to 3/4", but the contour is still relatively natural) but honestly, most of my extended family still hasn't noticed and I've had them for 7 years. I look extremely presentable when everything's covered, and even when its not. My u/g adviser hasn't seen my arms yet but he knows about my ears, etc and has never seemed bothered. My field school teacher saw me in shorts around the field house and knows i have arm tattoos and didn't make mention of it. I like the idea of playing it safe and letting people judge me on my ability first and my appearance later and I'll probably take that advice. Also, anthropologygeek, I read through your post a second time. There's nothing "lucky" about not having any tattoos or body modification, I'm not a stray dog that got tattooed by the pound. We all make decisions that are right for ourselves

thanks, i was hoping you might see this. i was assuming i would be hiding them/covering regardless for larger things like SAAs and AAAs, etc.I was wondering more on like a going to class basis, meeting with my adviser, etc basis. i find it overwhelmingly ironic (though unsurprising) that anthropology has such a strict attitude about these sorts of things. A long sleeve button down with the sleeves at 3/4 and dress pants covers everything so it won't be hard!

I would just stick to a one line sentence mentioning some medical conditions that you now have stabilized. i really wouldn't mention anything that could be misconstrued by an old minded person. but thats just me and what i would do.

Hi all! I'm an applicant stil but I've been wondering this for a while. I have some visible tattoos (elbows and bicep, behind my ear, backs of my ankles, tops of my feet plus a few others that would never be visible in a professional setting) that show when I'm wearing a dress. Should I be super concerned about keeping these covered during annual meetings, etc? I plan on keeping my arms covered ( I have lots of professional sweaters ) however, should I just confine myself to long slacks to cover? What about to classes? I'm in anthropology-archaeology, which I know in the grand scheme is relatively laid back. A potential advisor actually complemented my stretched ears and tattoos (although our main research interests are body modification in ancient civilizations, so I suppose I'm just practicing what i preach). I've never had a problem before and planned on just wearing semi sheer tights when I wear dresses (which is professional anyway to not have bare legs), but should I be going opaque or bust?

Luckily theres a variety of men with semi pointless lives with my name. Good thing is I'm female. If you search my name and University all that comes up are Dean's List awards and articles I wrote for our school paper from being a journalism major. I did check my facebook a few weeks ago to see what it looked like publicly to find the only activity listed was "not wearing pants." Oops.

Seriously. Just be as professionally and politely annoying as possible. I was at the point of sending prompts daily and an reminder email every other day. People will do just about anything to make that stop, mainly submitting your letters.

The only thing you can do, quite frankly, is get it together and get great grades. You don't want to hear any advice, you just needed an outlet. You know what you need to do, now do it.

I'm not going to say it's not, but that's a lto stacked against you. Archaeology is not something you can just wake up one day and go into. It often isn't what people expect. BU and Harvard's programs accept only a few of the top of the top. I believe they both have minimum of 3.0 GPA to apply in addition to field experience. I can not encourage you enough to go do at least one if not two or three field schools and work for at least 6 months in CRM. Many people do not understand what archaeology entails. This is honestly, despite the sarcasm and exaggeration of worst case scenario, relatively accurate of many peoples experiences. http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/dreamjobs/dreamjobs3.html

I just got a dog. It was a planned thing completely unrelated to applications, but he's wonderful and occupying my attention wonderfully from grad school responses.

It matters because unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this world who don't believe it is a good reason. You may hit an adcomm with an influential member who thinks that learning disabilities are figments of the imagination. It's still pretty common belief, especially when it comes to adults. Many people still think you "grow out of" ADD/ADHD. And that it is only used as an excuse for people who are lazy or stupid. It's not worth the risk in my opinion.

No. I don't dig up dinosaurs. I study people. Dead people. Yes, I excavate cemetaries. No, they still have skin. Yes, they're dead. No, there's no dinosaurs. This is the definition of my field: http://www.mcsweeney...dreamjobs3.html

Let's See GRE (2x): $220 GRE Reports: $46 Transcripts/Mailing: ~$100 App Fees: ~$300 for 5 schools. So just over of $600

UChicago got points for being great via email. I forgot to include a cover sheet and supplemental form in my mailed package and they let me email them in instead! Also very attentive about checking off what they had.

From what people I've interviewed/met with who sit on adcoms have told me, they can tell why people are applying to their program through their SOP. If you don't put effort into your SOP, they should just accept you because they're lesser known? Sounds like a quick way to rejection to me...

Unless it's 100% necessary, I would not mention your ADD. As someone who has adult ADD/ADHD, some people (unfortunately) still view it as an "excuse" or a "fake disorder for lazy people." Say you struggled with medical issues if you absolutely must, but I don't foresee them feeling the need to pry into that. And especially if you didn't have it recorded with your U/G university. Then they may simply view it as an excuse for a student who realized half way through college that they should get their shit together. While we like to think the people we want to work under have the best intentions and thoughts, you must prepare for the worst.

wow! when did you turn in your applications that they're already made decisions?

i really like star trek.

i think some schools use application fees to weed out applicants who aren't serious. Hence why Harvard, Princeton and Yale have higher fees.

i don't tweet things i want potential advisers knowing (except maybe one, he rules). good thing I keep mine private anyway.

Officially have 3 applications under review, and only 3 more to submit. All my letters of rec and GRE scores have been received. Just have to submit my statements. I don't know if this is more stressful or more relaxing. I did in person meetings with 3 of the schools before applications and an in depth phone discussion with another. Only brief correspondance with the other two schools POIs via email.

So my letter writer helped me edit my Statement 2 weeks ago, but since November he's been AWOL. I know its finals but I've sent a few reminder emails and resent the prompts a few times and I haven't heard anything for him. Chicago's deadline is past (even thought the POI for Chicago was also said persons adviser when HE was a grad student, so I'm sure he understands his nature) and ASU and UCLA were today. My best friend, who is also applying to the same schools and a with a letter from the individual, has not received his either. Should I write the departments and point out that the letter is coming or just ride it out and hope for the best, while sending reminder emails every few days?

you might as well calm down because your score results may not even be posted. Try calling ETS rather than cursing on the internet. I know its stressful, but its usually better to channel that energy into productivity.